Knitting method and machine therefor



Sept. 28, 1937. MISHCON KNITTING METHOD AND MACHINE THEREFOR Filed May 18, 1937 lesterMir/tm ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 28, 1937 PATENT. OFFICE KNITTING METHOD AND MACHINE THEREFOR Lester Mishcon, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor to Supreme Knitting N. Y.

Machine 00., Brooklyn,

Application May 18, 1937, Serial no. 143,276 g '1 Claims.

This invention relates to a method and machine for knitting a fleece fabric, and particularly for manufacturing a cloth containing on one side thereof a fleece or laid-in yarn, the opposite side having a clean solid back.

In the manufacture of various types of fabrics, particularly cotton-back overcoating, the method generally employed therefor has heretofore entailed the employment of a machine with spring beard needles. Attempts have also been made to fabricate a cloth of this nature on circular open top latch needle machines by laying in floats of one or more yarns within the main body of the material. Particularly where this was done on a latch needle machine, the laid in yarn was generally partially visible on the reverse side}- some of the said lay-in portions actually protruding therefrom. It is one of the objects of this invention to enable a backing cloth or fleece fabric to be knitted on a circular, open top latch needle machine in such a way as to provide the outside face of the tubular cloth with a clean solid back, without any of the floated yams being visible. 7 I

It is within the contemplation of this invention to accomplish the aforesaid purpose without the necessity of materially altering the structure of the conventional circular open-top knitting machines. Apd I accomplish this objective by' producing, during the'knitting operation, lay-in on an upper level wholly independent and separate from the knitting operations performed on the lower level.

Other objects, features and advantages will appear from the drawing and the description hereinafter given.

' Referring to the drawing,

Figure 1 is a semi-diagrammatic development of a portion of the knitting machine, preferably of the open top circular type, constituting my invention.

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic respresentation of a portion of the fabric made by the method of Figure 1, and

Figure 3 is a fragmentary semi-diagrammatic resenting the level at which the inlaid floats are held during the operation of the machine, and the latter substantially at the level of ledge 9 and representing the level of the completed fabric.

In the particular form of the apparatus shown 5 in the drawing, a conventional cam ring is provided rotatable about the cylinder which contains a plurality of vertically movable needles,-although this invention is equally applicable to a structure where the needle cylinder is rotatable l0 and the said cam ring stationary. Inasmuch as the structure of the cam ring and needle cylinder is well understood in the art, it is not illustrated in the drawing, being of the conventional construction as generally employed in circular open 5 top latch needle machines. Suitably mounted upon the cam ring are a plurality of approach cams and needle elevating means, which may be pattern wheels or cams, as well as coacting stitch cams.

Referring specifically to the drawing, the appoach cams I2, l3, l4 and 3+ are movable in the direction of thearrow about the needle cylinder. Cooperatively positioned'with respect to the said cams are the selector wheels l5, l6, l1 and 32 respectively, and the stitch cams I8, l9, 20-and 33 respectively. In the construction shown, the selector wheels 16 and I1, being of the jack type, have all their slots filled, so that all the needles coming into engagement with said two wheels will 30 be elevated thereby. It is therefore obvious that for the particular arrangement shown in Figure 1, instead of employing design wheels, cams may be used.

In the operation of this device, when groups v of three feeds are employed about the cylinder, the needles engaging the selector. wheel l5 are selectively raised in accordance with the arrange- 4 ment of jacks Within the slots on the wheel. It will thus appear that the needles 2| pass directly through the unfllled slots; whereas the needles 22 which encounter jacks are elevated. .At this first feed, the needles 22 are elevated by the wheel l5 to a position preferably below the latch clearing level with respect to the lower sinker level I I, the needles in this position being at a sufiicient height to enable them to engage within the hook thereof the yarn 23 supplied by a guide 2l,-said yarn 23 being the lay-in yarn adapted to make a float within the body of the material as will hereinafter appear. It is to be understood, however, that it is possible, within the contemplation of this invention, to elevate the needles 22 at the first feed to a position-above the latch clearing 5 the sinker level II by the cams I8 and I9.

level with respect to the sinker level II, to obtain substantially the same results.

As the elevated needles 22 engage the stitch cam i8, these needles will be drawn down to a position where the tops thereof are slightly below the sinker level I0, but not sufficiently to cast ofi the cloth switches from the previous cycle of knitting. It should be noted that while the aforesaid operation is being performed, the cloth or stitches and floats from the previous cycle of knitting remain at the lower level I I, which is obviously due to the fact that the, selector wheel I5 raised the needles to a height below the latch clearing level with respect to the sinker line II, as shown in the specific arrangement illustrated in Figure 1.

It will further be observed that the new inlaid yarn 23, particularly at the position in'the region designated by the reference letter R after being brought to that position by the stitch cam I8, is actually suspended substantially at the upper level II), not having any connection whatsoever with the lower portion of the fabric at level ll, as will more clearly appear from the description hereinafter given.

As the approach cam I3 and wheel I6 progress in the direction of the arrow, all needles elevated by the wheel will .be raised to a latchclearing position with respect to the upper level II), the tops of the needles being brought substantially to the level 25. This of course is accomplished by positioning the selector wheel 56 at such a level to produce this result, being at a higher level than that at which the Wheel I5 is positioned,--the approach cam I3 being also necessarily at a higher level than the cam I2 so that it may properly coact with the wheel I 6. At the said level 25, the hooks of the needles 2i and '22 will receive the intermediate body yarn 26 supplied by the guide 2'1. Thereafter, these needles are drawn down by the stitch cam H) to a level slightly below the sinker level it, casting off only the lay-in yarn 23,-thereby interlacing the inlaid floats from the previous feed while still retaining all the previously completed stitches at substantially the level Ii.

At this point, the needles leaving the cam I9 have the inlaid yarn 23 at the rear of and slightly above the needles and the said intermediate yarn 26 within the hooks of the needles. It will beunderstood that the original cloth comprising the previously knitted fabric up to this point has merely been suspended on the needles that operatively pass over cams I2 and I3, inasmuch as the needles were never drawn down lower than The said previously knitted stitches remain hanging on closed latches of the needles while the float of inlay yarn is being tied in by the stitch cam I9,

and remain that way with the floats of inlay yarn 23 at the rear of'the needles held by the yarn 26 which, as aforesaid, is still in the hooks of the needles. I

As the approach cam I4 continues to progress in the direction of the arrow, the selector wheel I! elevates all needles operatively engaged thereby to a height where the latches of these needles to not quite clear the upper sinker level I0, being slightly therebelow. The hooks of the needles are hence brought to the level 29, which is below the level 25 to which the needles were brought by the selector wheel I6; and at this point, the needles engage within their hooks the main yarn 28 supplied by the guide 30. Thereafter these needles are drawn down by the stitch cam 21; to a cast ofi position below the lower sinker level I I, thereby knitting stitches of the main yarn 28 and the intermediate yarn 26, the tied-in floats remaining incorporated in the fabric as an inlaid yarn. It is of course obvious that the positioning of the needles at the last mentioned feed is effectuated by positioning the selector wheel H at a level intermediate the positions of the selector wheels 15 and 16, the approach cam I4 and stitch cam 20 occupying corresponding coacting positions. It

should be noted that at this stage the hooks of the needles contain two threads of yarn 26 and 28.

This cycle repeats itself for as many groups of feeds as there are on the machine. it should be required to have an arrangement whereby two different sets of needles take a floated yarn, an additional feed is added at the beginning of each group of feeds, containing an arrangement such as the approach cam -3I, the selector wheel 32, the stitch cam 33 and the inlay yarn 34 supplied by the guide 35. The elements of this last mentioned feed are precisely in the same position as those at the first feed containing the approach cam 12, the selector wheel l5, stitch cam I8 and lay-in yarn 23. Thus with such an arrangement, there are four feeds to a unit all within the contemplation of this invention.

In order to operatively permit the aforesaid knitting and lay-in operations to be performed, the sinker 5 is operated by an actuating cam of the conventional structure, this cam being so arranged as to move the sinkers 5 into the dotted line position shown in Figure 1, as will more clearly appear from the description hereinafter given.

At the first feed above the approach cam 12, the sinkers 5 are drawn back sufficiently far to enable the nose 36 of the sinker to be cleared by the yarn 23 thereby enabling it to operatively take the float formed from said yarn 23 at the sinker level I.

At the feed above the approach cam 33, the position of the sinker cam is the same as for the first position above described, allowing all needles to take the yarn 26 for tying in all the floats at said needles, but still permitting said floats to remain suspended at the level Ill after the stitch cam 19 operatively passes on to the right.

At the feed above the approach cam 14, the sinker actuating cam draws the sinkers 5 still further back, as shown by dotted lines, so as to enable the nose 3'! to be cleared. This permits interlaced floats from the upper level I3] to be dropped off to lower level H, allowing the yarn 28 to be operatively fed into the hooks of the needles and operatively drawn down by the stitch cam 20. At this point, as above described, it is apparent that all the yarn comprising the original fabric from the previous cycle of knitting will be cast off, the yarns 26 and 28 still being in the hooks to be knitted in at another knitting group.

It should further be noted that all needles substantially extending across the distance A have the Wales of the previously finished fabric hanging upon the needles at level II,. and a float on the selected and previously elevated needles suspended at the level Hi. All the needles extending substantially across the distance B have the wales of the previously finished fabric suspended upon the needles at the level H, the inlaid yarn 23 being in back ofrthe needles and the intermediate yarn 26 being in front of the needles and interlaced with the inlay yarn 23. All needles thereafter have already interknitted all previous floats and finished fabrics.

If, however, 7

of Figure 3 that one side of the cloth is providedwith a continuous arrangement of spaced wales composed of the main yarn 28a, thereby providing one substantially solid surface without any inlaid yarns extending therethrough,said sur-.v

face being readily adaptable as the backing for a fleece fabric.

It thus appears that the method and apparatus above described, which relates to a single phase of knitting in accordance with this invention, en-

ables the manufacturer of a fleece or laid-in yarn 1 fabric on the inside face of the tubular cloth being fabricated, while the outside face of the cloth has a clean solid back without any inlay or floated yarns visible. This is essentially effectuated by the hereinbefore described arrangement whereby the lay-in is floated and interlaced on the upper level Ill, being wholly independent of the operations performed at the lower level I|,,this

being a novel arrangement for circular open top tion to those hereinbefore described, all within the scope of the'appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a circular open-top latch needle 'knitting machine, double-throated sinker means providing an upper and a lower sinker level, a plurality of spaced yarn feeds including three successive feeds for supplying an inlay yarn, an intermediate body yarn and a main yarn, respectively, needie elevating and depressing means at each of saidfeeds, the said needle elevating means being adapted to raise coacting needles at said intermediate feed to above latch-clearing position with thereto.

2..In a circular open-top latch needle knitting machine, a plurality of circumferentially disposed double-throated radially movable sinkers provid-' ing an uppef'and a lower sinker level, a plurality of spaced yarn feeds including'three successive feeds for supplying an inlay yarn, an intermediate body yarn and a main yarn, respectively, needle elevating and depressing means for actuating certain predetermined needles to successively draw loops of yarn from each of said feeds, the said needle elevating means being adapted to raise coacting needles at said intermediate feed to above latch-clearing positions with respect to the upper sinker level, and at the main yarn and inlay yarn feeds to-below the latch-clearing position with respect to the upper sinker level, the

said needle depressing means being adapted to lower the needles at the inlay and intermediate yarn feeds to substantially the upper sinker level and short of cast-off position, and at the main yarn feed to below the lower sinker level arid below the cast-off position with respect thereto, said sinkers being adapted to receive at said upper sinker level the yarn at "said inlay and intermediate feeds, and at said lower sinker level at the mainyarn feed.

3. In a circular open-top latch needle knitting machine having an upper and lower sinker level,

three successive feeds for supplying an inlay yarn, an intermediate body yarn and a main yarn respectively, means for actuating certain predetermined needles to'successively draw loops of the inlay yarn down to substantially said upper level, clear the latches of said inlay yarn and draw loops of said intermediateyarn to substantially said upper level and short of the castingotf position for interlacing a float of said inlay yarn without knitting, and means for subsequently actuating said needles to draw. loops of the main yarn and the intermediate bodyyarn to a casting off position below said lower sinker level,

thereby operatively knitting and tying in the previously formed stitches and float.

'4. In a circular open-top latch needle knitting machine having an upper and lower sinker level, a plurality of spaced feeds including three successive feeds for supplying an inlay yarn, an intermediate body yarn and a main yarn, respectively, needle elevating means at each of said feeds including a selector wheel at the inlay yarn feed for selectively elevating coacting needles to a level for operatively taking the inlay yarn, means for lowering the said selected needles to a point substantially at said upper level and short of the casting 01f level to form a float of inlaid yarn substantially at said. upper level, means at the intermediate yarn-feed for elevating coacting needles to a latch-clearing position ate yarn at said upper level, means at said main yarn feed for raising coacting needles to a level for operatively taking the main yarn and short of clearing the latch of said intermediate yam at said upper level, and means for lowering the needles to a point-below the said lower sinker level for casting off and operatively knitting and tying in the said previously formed stitches and 5. In a method of knitting on a circular opentop latch needle machine, the steps of successively elevating selected needles to a position for taking a'yarn tobe inlaid; operatively supplying said yarn-to said needles, lowering said "needles to a predetermined upper sinker level short of the casting-off level of previously formed stitches,

said needles and the unelev ated needles to a latch-clearing level, supplying an intermediate yarn to'said needles, lowering said needles to' said upper level short of the casting-off level of said previously formed stitches and casting off and interlacing said inlaid float, elevating said needles to a level for taking a main yarn and below the latch-clearing level for the said previously takenintermediate yarn, supplying a main yam to said needles, and drawing down all the needles to below a predetermined lower sinker level for casting off and operatively knitting and 'tying in the said previously formed stitches and thereby forming a float of inlaid yarn, raising machine, double throated sinker means providing an upper and a lower sinker level, a plurality of spaced yarn feeds including three successive feeds for supplying an inlay yarn, an intermediate body yarn and a. main yarn, respectively, to the needles when the needles are at different levels; said inlay yarn feed being adapted tosup- "ply its'yarn to needles that are at the lowest of said levels, said intermediate yarn feed being adapted to supply its yarn to needles that are at the highest of said levels; needle elevating and depressing means for actuating certain predetermined needles to sucessively draw loops of yarn from each of said feeds, respectively, said latter means being adapted to raise and lower coacting needles to predetermined points with respect to said upper and lower sinker levels;

7. In a circular open-t0p latch needle knitting machine, double throated sinker means providing an upper and a lower sinker level, a plurality of spaced yarn feeds including three successive feeds for supplying an inlay yarn, an intermediate body yarn and a main yarn, respectively, to

raise coacting needles at said intermediate feed to above latch-clearing position with respect to the upper sinker level, and. at the main yarn and inlay yarn feeds to below the latch-clearing position with respect to the upper sinker level, the said needle depressing means being adapted to lower the needles at the inlay and intermediate yarn feeds to substantially the upper sinker level and short of cast-off position, and at the main yarn feed to below the lower sinker level and below the cast-off position with respect thereto.

LESTER NIISHCON. 

